This week LINEA ABIERTA celebrates its fourth anniversary with a special award from the California Association for Bilingual Education.
LINEA ABIERTA, national public radio's first and only Latino talk show, is produced by Radio Bilingue and premiered on February 25, 1995 with a live satellite broadcast from the conference site of the National Federation of Community Broadcasters in Albuquerque. During the past four years, LINEA ABIERTA has provided, via national satellite feed, a weekday service that includes lively discussions on issues ranging from immigration to health to education.
The California Association for Bilingual Education (CABE) selected Radio Bilingue as the Media recipient of its 1999 Special Recognition Award. According to Maria Quezada and Silvina Rubinstein, president and executive director of CABE respectively, Radio Bilingue was chosen "for the role played in helping to understand the issues surrounding bilingual education." During 1997-98, LINEA ABIERTA created a special weekly edition to provide a public forum for parents, students and educators to discuss bilingual education. The series included roundtables and live forums debating the anti-bilingual Proposition 227. The CABE award was presented at the CABE 1999 Conference, which gathered 12,000 participants on February 18 in Los Angeles.
Actor Tony Plana, presenting the award, said: "Radio Bilingue has a long tradition of serving the community by opening their microphones and allowing people to express themselves in Spanish." Plana added: "Parents and teachers have been able to present their issues on Radio Bilingue so that their voices could be heard."
In celebration of its fourth anniversary, LINEA ABIERTA will be broadcasting a special live program from the site of this year's conference of the National Federation of Community Broadcasters in San Francisco. The special includes a joint broadcast with the satellite-fed Native American program "Native America Calling" and interviews with union leader Dolores Huerta and renowned artists.
For more information, contact Graciela L. Orozco at (510) 845-4861.